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McCain Clinches GOP Nomination |
| Posted by dictatorhater on
Tuesday, March 04, 2008 at
11:09:31 PM
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http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nation/bal-primary0304,0,4032190.story
McCain clinches GOP nomination
Democrats Obama, Clinton in showdown for delegates
By David Espo | The Associated Press
9:16 PM EST, March 4, 2008
WASHINGTON - Arizona Sen. John McCain, a political maverick and unflinching supporter of the war in Iraq, clinched the Republican presidential nomination tonight. Barack Obama defeated Hillary Rodham Clinton in the Democratic primary in Vermont, and the two rivals dueled in Ohio, Texas and Rhode Island in a riveting race for their party's presidential nomination.
McCain, 71, gained the 1,191 delegates needed to claim the Republican nomination with a series of primary victories, completing a remarkable comeback that began in the snows of New Hampshire six weeks ago. President Bush invited him to the White House for a show of support on Wednesday.
The former Vietnam prisoner of war is making his second try for the White House, after losing the GOP nomination to Bush in 2000.
McCain went over the top in the Associated Press' delegate count based on his performance in the night's primaries as well as a late show of support from Republican National Committee members who are delegates to the party convention next summer in St. Paul, Minn. Campaign aides readied an enormous banner bearing the magic number to serve as a backdrop for a victory celebration in Dallas.
In the Democratic race, Obama took an early lead in Texas based almost entirely on votes cast before primary day.
The Ohio count was delayed by heavy voting that kept some polls in Sandusky and Cleveland open for 90 minutes past the scheduled 7:30 p.m. close.
In all, there were 370 Democratic delegates at stake in Rhode Island, Vermont, Ohio and in Texas, which used an unusual primary-caucus system.
Hispanics, a group that has favored Clinton in earlier primaries, cast nearly one-third of the Election Day votes in Texas, up from about one- quarter of the ballots four years ago, according to interviews with voters as they left their polling places. Blacks, who have voted heavily for Obama this year, accounted for roughly 20 percent of the votes cast, roughly the same as four years ago.
The economy was the No. 1 concern on the minds of Democratic voters in Texas, Rhode Island and especially in Ohio. But in Vermont, almost as many voters said the war in Iraq was their top concern.
More than three-quarters of Ohio Democrats said international trade had cost their state more jobs than it had created.
Roughly six in 10 of the Democrats who were questioned outside the polls Tuesday said that so-called superdelegates, who are party officials, should vote at the national convention based on the results of primaries and caucuses. That was unwelcome news for Clinton, who trails Obama among delegates picked in the states but holds a lead among superdelegates.
There was better news for Clinton elsewhere in the polls.
She won the votes of the late deciders in Ohio, Vermont and Texas.
After 11 straight victories, Obama had the momentum and the lead in the delegate chase in The Associated Press count, 1,389-1,276.
His margin was larger -- 1,187-1,035 -- among pledged delegates chosen in primaries and caucuses. The former first lady had an advantage among superdelegates, but Obama picked up three during the day, narrowing her advantage to 241-202.
Time was running out for Clinton -- if it hadn't already.
Some of her supporters, her husband the former president among them, said she needed to outpoll Obama in both Texas and Ohio to sustain her candidacy.
Without conceding anything, Obama's allies said even that wouldn't be enough, given his lead in the delegate coun |
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U.S. Supreme Court Rejects Challenge to Bush Spying Program |
| Posted by dictatorhater on
Tuesday, February 19, 2008 at
2:37:37 PM
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U.S. Supreme Court Rejects Challenge to Bush Spying Program
By Greg Stohr
Feb. 19 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Supreme Court refused to revive a challenge to a Bush administration terrorist surveillance program, turning away an appeal by the American Civil Liberties Union and other opponents of the spying program.
The justices, making no comment, today left intact a federal appeals court's conclusion that the ACLU and its allies lacked the legal right to sue over the program because they couldn't show they suffered any harm.
The rejection is a victory for the Bush administration, insulating from legal attack a spying program that critics say violates speech and privacy rights. The ACLU and its allies also criticized President George W. Bush's assertion of broad presidential authority to eavesdrop on potential terrorists during wartime.
``This claim, which challenges the very foundations of our constitutional democracy, should not go unreviewed by the courts,'' the unsuccessful appeal argued. The ACLU was joined in its appeal by attorneys, journalists and scholars.
The Bush administration urged the Supreme Court to reject the appeal, saying those challenging the program ``cannot prove that they were surveilled.'' The Cincinnati-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals threw out the suit in July on a 2-1 vote.
The high court action comes as the president and lawmakers spar over a possible extension of congressional authorization for Bush's surveillance efforts. The central sticking point has been legal immunity for telecommunications companies that cooperate with the government.
Sept. 11 Attacks
Bush began the spying program, originally known as the Terrorist Surveillance Program, shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks. Bush acknowledged the program's existence after a 2005 New York Times story, saying he had directed the National Security Agency to intercept communications into and out of the country involving people linked to al-Qaeda.
At the Supreme Court, the administration argued that the original Terrorist Surveillance Program no longer exists and has been superseded by spying conducted under different legal rules. In 2007 a secret court that supervises foreign intelligence surveillance authorized the government to collect communications believed to involve al-Qaeda members.
The Democratic-controlled Congress later enacted a law temporarily authorizing surveillance, requiring telecommunications companies to cooperate and shielding them from civil lawsuits for doing so. That measure expired Feb. 16, leaving a legal gap that the Bush administration says will jeopardize spying efforts.
Although the government can continue using existing wiretaps, cooperation from telecommunications companies is no longer assured. Expiration of congressional authorization also may complicate efforts to eavesdrop on new targets.
The case is American Civil Liberties Union v. National Security Agency, 07-468.
To contact the reporter on this story: Greg Stohr in Washington at gstohr@bloomberg.net .
Last Updated: February 19, 2008 10:02 EST
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Bill: Guns the cure for school shootings |
| Posted by dictatorhater on
Tuesday, February 19, 2008 at
3:28:23 AM
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Tucson Region
Bill: Guns the cure for school shootings
Unarmed students, teachers 'sitting ducks,' legislator says
By Howard Fischer
Capitol Media Services
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 02.19.2008
PHOENIX — Sen. Karen Johnson said she believes the tragedy last week at Northern Illinois University would have been avoided, or at least would have been less tragic, if faculty members and students had been armed.
The Mesa Republican on Monday urged colleagues to approve her legislation, which would partially repeal existing laws and regulations banning weapons on campuses of public schools, community colleges and universities. Her proposal, SB 1214, allows those who have a state permit to carry a concealed weapon, which means they must be 21 or older, to have a gun on campus.
Johnson said without weapons, students and teachers are "sitting ducks."
The police chiefs of the three state universities, however, all told members of the Senate Judiciary Committee more guns on campus actually could result in more deaths.
University of Arizona Police Chief Anthony Daykin said situations with an armed shooter are difficult enough. But he said it would be worse if every time there were a threat, five or six people would pull out guns, each perhaps thinking the others are potential assailants.
"What kind of carnage might we have?" he asked.
And Bryan Soller, president of the Arizona Fraternal Order of Police, told lawmakers they have to look at the situation through the eyes of police officers responding to the scene and seeking someone with a weapon.
"We say, 'Police!' He goes, 'What?' It's over," said Soller, a Mesa police sergeant. "He's going to get shot immediately because if we see a threat, we're going to take him out."
But much of the debate, and the likely fate of the measure when it comes up for a vote next week, centered on the question of whether more guns might have altered the outcome of last week's incident at NIU, where a gunman killed five and wounded 16 before taking his own life.
John Pickens, Arizona State University's police chief, had a unique perspective, telling lawmakers he served at NIU before coming to Arizona.
"I don't think there is a solution to the violence we're seeing on campus," he said. "No preparation can prevent an incident."
The best answer, he said, is proper training, not only of police but also of people in the campus community.
Johnson said having police respond, even quickly, is not the answer.
"It's who's there at the time and is ready and available to take care of the situation," she said. If someone with a concealed weapon were available and already on the scene, Johnson said, "he'd be able to know who it was and, excuse the expression, plug them."
But Pickens said having multiple armed people when police respond to a chaotic scene only makes resolving the situation more difficult.
"How are we going to determine the target?" he asked. "That's where the confusion comes."
Johnson also cited a study after last year's shootings at Virginia Tech, which left 32 dead.
"There were at least 60 different points in the attack where a defender of average skill could have easily neutralized the threat of the active shooter," she said. "What is worse than allowing an execution-style massacre to continue uncontested?"
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Word of the Day
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| Definition: |
Short lively tune played on brass instruments. |
| Synonyms: |
fanfare,
flourish
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Quote of the Day
Don't order any black things. Rejoice in his memory; and be radiant: leave grief to the children. Wear violet and purple...Be patient with the poor people who will snivel: they don't know; and they think they will live for ever, which makes death a division instead of a bond.
George Bernard Shaw
(1856-1950) |
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© Copyright 2007 - 2008, NIWECS ™. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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